By David Njagi
The fifth session of theUnited Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA 5.2) ended with 14 resolutions aiming to curb pollution, protect and restore nature.
But to a group of farmers conversing in low tones as they cleared patches of vegetation inside the Aberdare forest in central Kenya, their purpose in conservation began even before UNEA 5.2 took off in Nairobi.
The section where they are working is the size of two football fields. It has been deforested due to frequent forest fires sparked by honey poachers. They will plant knee high saplings there, which will bloom into a restored tree cover within the next decade.
That simple process will recharge the forest’s natural engine, saving millions of Kenyans from water stress, according to Victor Kabutbei, the forest manager at north Kinangop forest station.
“Communities are seeing direct benefits in terms of water easement and a source of pasture for livestock when there is prolonged drought. Women can also collect firewood from the forest to use as cooking fuel,” says Kabutbei.
Aberdare forest, which covers an area of about 103,300 hectares, is one of Kenya’s water towers, serving millions of Kenyans living in both upstream and downstream communities. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and home to small and big game like elephants, buffaloes, lions, cheetahs and leopards.
Over the years however, it has been facing increased deforestation and degradation due to forest fires, illegal logging, poaching, and land degradation. This has worsened water stress especially for communities living in lowlands like pastoralists, says Kabutbei.
For instance, he says, the forest recharges Lake Olbolossat in central Kenya, which is the source of north eastern Kenya’s main supplier of fresh water, the Ewaso Nyiro river. It stretches from its source and flows all the way to the Lorian swamp near the Kenya-Somalia border to the east.
Paul Learpanai, a local living in Archers Post in north eastern Kenya, has witnessed the river decline from a giant that flowed over the 15-foot-high bridge at his village to a stream that locals can easily cross on foot.
This is something they could not dare do during the river’s high season for fear of being swept away, he says as a distant memory flashed on his troubled face.
Like thousands of pastoralists here, Learpanai depends on livestock for his livelihood. To him, pasture and water are the twin engines that keep the northern Kenya economic machine running.
“I feel very scared. If this river disappears, we might all die,” said the 30-year-old.
The reason the river has shrunk to such low levels is a combination of water abstraction from its upper source, property development, and worsening climate change, says Ibrahim Kabero, the program officer at Merti Integrated Development Programme (MID-P), a local NGO working in north-eastern Kenya.
Kabero and his team at MID-P have traced the pressure the river is facing from its source in central Kenya, and followed it through nine counties in central and north-eastern Kenya, that the river passes through.
Their investigation found out that flower and horticultural farms at Lake Olbolossat abstract huge volumes of water to grow fresh produce.
Property development in towns where the river passes by have also led to demand for building materials supplies like timber and sand, while charcoal serves the growing population with cooking fuel.
This has led to widespread cutting of trees in the Aberdare ecosystem, including immature ones that have not reached the harvesting age of 18 to 28 years.
“Severe sand harvesting in three counties-both upstream and downstream-are also responsible for the river’s reduced water flow,” says Kabero.
According to Wamiti Wanyoike, a researcher at the National Museums of Kenya,water abstraction causes less volumes to reach communities living on the downstream part of the river. Logging on the other hand reduces a forest’s ability to recharge the fresh water source system.
“Both the river and the lake are threatened. I feel there is a sense of urgency to prevent further pressure on these water resources and the consequences of this misuse in the near future. And it is not pleasant,” says Wanyoike.
This is why Learpanai is visibly upset. Learpanai is from the Borana tribe. But during the 30 years that he has lived here, he has seen the river support other tribes in north-eastern Kenya, like the Samburu, Turkana and Rendille.
The river has been serving communities here with water for domestic use, livestock, as well as an attraction for tourists visiting the Samburu national reserve, he says.
“When there is plenty of water available for everyone, there is peace. But when there is little available, conflict over water often escalates among pastoralist communities and crop farmers due to competition,” said the father of two.
One way the river is being conserved is through educating both upstream and downstream communities about the importance of Ewaso Nyiro river to the stability of north eastern Kenya.
Molu Tepo, the program manager at MID-P says the organization does this through annual camel caravans that begun in 2014, to promote peace among downstream and upstream communities.
Another is by lobbying upstream communities to conserve its source and support system in the Aberdare forest basin. Some conservation charities are responding to this call.
Working with WWF-Kenya, communities are restoring degraded sections of Aberdare forest through tree planting and plantation establishment, according to Peter Muriuki Murage, the chairman of North Kinangop Community Forest Association (CFA).
Murage says farmers have managed to restore about 100 hectares of degraded sections with over 40,000 saplings.
CFAs in collaboration with the charity have also rolled out programs to educate locals on how to harvest honey without using fire to scare the bees away.
“Farmers are trained to wear special clothing for harvesting honey. But if they have to do it the traditional way, they are advised to carry water along for dousing the burning embers after harvesting,” says Murage.
Caroline Njiru, the WWF Kenya coordinator for Naivasha landscape says the Aberdare forest landscape restoration project is part of the Africa Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) aiming to restore 100 million hectares of land in the continent by 2030.
With a five-year window funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), it aims to restore 500 hectares with mixed forests, 100 hectares under farmland and 40 kilometers of riparian land, she said.
The year 2020 to 2030 is the UN decade for ecosystem restoration and was part of the discussions during UNEA 5.2.
Kabutbei message to leaders convening under the assembly is for them to support communities with more rangers to drive conservation efforts in Kenya.
At his station, shortage of rangers, where a single one is responsible for more than 400 hectares of forest, is making it hard to battle illegal encroachment.
“Let the leaders even employ community scouts to help us fight environment crimes and we shall get back our lost forests,” says Kabutbei.
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